This Social Network Engages Audiences Better Than the Rest

When you’re first launching a business, social media is a prime way to get the word out about your product or service without spending a lot of money. But you don't want to be spending valuable time on a platform that won't connect you with the audience you need.

It's important to be strategic about where you direct your energy and resources, and to that end, TrackMaven, a Washington, D.C.-based maker of marketing analytics software, put together its 2016 Social Media Industry Index to look at which platforms -- Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter -- yields the most user engagement for which industry.

Monitoring the social media content produced by more than 40,000 businesses in 130 industries from Jan. 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016, the study found that when looking at the engagement ratio per brand for social media platforms (which TrackMaven characterizes as the average interactions per post per brand per 1,000 followers), overall, companies see the highest average engagement ratio on Instagram.

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The index found that for Twitter and Instagram, businesses in the music industry had the highest interactions per post. Meanwhile, on Facebook, sports and entertainment companies were the most popular, with retail businesses bringing up the rear.

As for LinkedIn, the pharmaceutical industry has the most followers but the lowest average engagement. And it turns out that businesses in airlines and aviation, luxury goods and wine and spirits actually get the highest engagement on the site.

When you are first sketching out a social media strategy, look at your competitors in the space and see where they are gaining the most traction and customer interaction. It will only save you time down the line.